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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC_Minutes_062619 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 3:30 - 5:30 PM Jefferson County Public Health - Pacific Room 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA Members Present: Greg Brotherton (BoCC), David Wilkinson, John Bender (Jefferson Transit), Cindy Jayne, Deb Stinson (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County), Dan Toepper (PUD No. 1), Sonja Hammar Absent: Chris O’Higgins (Jefferson Healthcare), Eric Toews (Port of PT), Member (Port Townsend Paper Corporation), Kate Chadwick Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Cameron Rowland, Shelley Jaye, John Collins, Mark Cooper, Dave Seabrook, Cara Loriz, Tom Engel, Judy Alexander , Diane McDade Scribes: Laura Tucker and Cindy Jayne Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Approval of Agenda & Minutes Motion to approve agenda by Deborah Stinson, second by Dan Toepper, approved. Suggestion by Judy Surber to put motions in bold letters and spell out initials. Motion to approve April 24, 2019 minutes by Laura Tucker, second by Deb Stinson, approved. Public Comment Tom Engel read a written statement encouraging elected officials to use their position to recommend changes that the public can make to reduce greenhouse gases, especially in the area of transportation. Judy Alexander added her support of Tom’s comments. John Collins, former Port Commissioner, asked elected officials to use their bully pulpit to reach citizens. He suggested ways to make Port Townsend more bicycle friendly. Old Business Logo: Cindy updated the committee on the logo and added that a box around the logo had been added as per Cindy will send high resolution images to Judy and Laura CAC suggestion; she thanked Kathleen Ney for her great work! EnviroStars: Laura gave an update on the program. Due to the high cost of participation (over $6,000 per year) and the last-minute reduction of funds by the Dept. of Ecology to fund the program, Jefferson County will be creating their own Green Business Program to be implemented in 2020. Flood Damage Ordinances: Judy gave a report on the Flood Damage Ordinance; if you are in a FEMA special flood hazard area, structures must be flood-proofed or elevated. The previous city code says you only need to raise the elevation 1 foot above Base Flood Elevation (BFE). At it’s June 2017 meeting, the CAC recommended 2 or more feet in light of sea level rise. The City’s ordinance was amended to 2 feet. As for the county, they approved an elevation level of 1 foot and will revisit this again next year. Cindy mentioned that the cost of elevation can be offset by the cost of flood insurance according to the Association of State Floodplain Managers. Decision Support Tool: Cindy summarized the tool that Kate Chadwick is putting together and presented at a previous meeting. It is now out for review and CAC members are encouraged to comment. She will present it at the August meeting. Climate Action Committee member positions: Deb Stinson commented on positions open for the Climate Action Committee. Deborah’s goal is to have them on the July 15 City Council meeting, followed by the BoCC meeting in order to have all approved by the August 28th CAC meeting. All – review Decision support tool. Outreach Planning Laura offered the Local 20/20 Climate Outreach Action group as a resource for inviting all the groups in the CAC to brainstorm how they might benefit from outreach activities, events, etc. Cameron suggested that progress in reaching our goal of GHG reduction be displayed on a marquee like the time/temperature displays at the banks. Judy asked about speakers coming to the schools to talk about climate change; create a speakers bureau; perhaps doing ‘Taming Bigfoot’; she suggested that transportation scavenger hunt competition happen: using transit, e-bikes, bikes, walk; different scavenger hunt for each mode of transportation. Cindy asked if transit would be able to put up posters on the buses advertising the CAC’s efforts to reduce GHG in Jefferson County; John is in charge of advertising and suggested it might be possible. Cindy shared the recent Local 20/20 PT Leader columns on climate. Climate on Tap Series: Laura noted the monthly series kicked off on Earth Day – about 25 in attendance. Number one request was “how to talk to people about Climate Change”. Others requests included shopping for change, divesting. Hoping for coverage in local papers. Next meeting is May 6 – Transportation. Format is a discussion group. Sponsored by Local 20/20 and Jefferson County Health and Finnriver Cidery. John to investigate potential for CAC info on Transit buses. Goals Goals: Cindy described the goals for the CAC. We have two sets of goals: 1. The CAC as a whole 2. Each member organization King Tide: Dave Wilkinson gave an update of the King Tide program. Barney Burke and Jeff Taylor are the photographers. SeaGrant posts the data on their website. Dave is working on quantifying the wave energy that adds an additional 1-2 feet of elevation beyond the measured King Tide level. Greg reported on the newly established county’s goals, which include establishing a Commute Trip Reduction program, inventorying county light fixtures, replacing boilers, etc. He mentioned the state has a ‘bounty’ on wood stoves to be replaced with pellet stoves or heat pumps. Not currently available in Jefferson County, but hopefully is coming soon. All – send Cindy updates to your organizational goals for 2019/20, and status. Dan reported that the PUD is moving towards more conservation. Planning to add an electric vehicle into the fleet. Community solar projects are being considered. Moving into more efficient heating systems (heat pump rebates). Cindy offered to help the PUD work on more formal goals. Eric Toews noted by email that the port’s goals were approved on May 22nd. Inventory Update and ICLEI Tools for Identifying Emission Reduction Cindy reported that the Local 20/20 inventory team is in the process of updating the county GHG footprint using 2018 data. ICLEI software is being used to collect data. There are lots of new questions being asked in this inventory that weren’t included data from 2005 in the previous inventory. The data is due at the end of August. There is a commute survey for each organization to send to their employees. Cindy gave appreciations to Greg Lanning with the City, Tom Boatman, Mark McCauley with Jefferson Co. for supporting the inventory work. Land/forestry: For the Agriculture Sector, the Clearpath software focuses on livestock emissions, and the plan is to include this in the inventory. The plan is to also capture the acres being used for cropland, woodland, pasture land and other uses (from the USDA Ag Census) even though the emissions software does not utilize that information at this time. Inventory team reached out to Land Trust, NWWI, WSU, Jefferson Conservation District, etc. to let them know of the inventory plans. Total community information: Electricity from Jefferson PUD, Mason PUD (supplies parts of Jefferson County) Census - averages of propane usage, etc. Solid waste and water usage from the County and the PUD Deborah suggested we need to look at the delta (change) between the last inventory and this one. Some data will match what was previously calculated and some will not. Cindy said the new version will try to match the previous metrics used in 2005 to see the delta (change), but will add some new metrics to help calculate our total carbon footprint. Judy mentioned that we aren’t measuring our sequestration completely (i.e. kelp beds) Cindy said we aren’t calculating items we purchase as it wasn’t included before. We’re also not including aviation, rail (except for transporting waste to Roosevelt), or maritime vessels, as they as rolled up at the state level, but can include state averages in the report. Deborah Stinson reported that she and Kate Dean will discuss how we will roll this information out to the community. It’s been a long time since the last inventory (2005). She suggested that the CAC could be very helpful in getting out the word. The goal for getting the report done is the end of 2019. She suggested that we discuss the roll out at the August CAC meeting. Cindy said that the ICLEI software has a tool for evaluating possible greenhouse gas reduction strategies. She suggested that the ICLEI membership be purchased for next year to make use of this tool. Deborah Stinson and Greg Brotherton agreed that the fee of $600 (split by the City and County) would be a valuable purchase. Energy Opportunities for Emissions Reductions Cindy shared the Local 20/20 Energy Action Group recommendations. A few actions were discussed. Local 20/20 could create an info sheet about EVs. This could go out in the PUD letter and/or other organization’s materials. Transit is applying for a grant to get an electric bus. The PUD is putting in a Phase 3 charger at the Visitor Center. Judy discussed green building incentives that may be useful in a rural, less dense area like Jefferson County. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for • Critical areas masterplan at the county level; Greg said there are public meetings beginning in July; hiring a consultant to compare our critical areas to other counties; outcome to provide recommendations to the county planning committee and BoCC. Climate Review? • City: shoreline master plan by 2021 • Cindy noted that the Washington State document How Local Shoreline Master Programs Currently Address Sea Level Rise may be helpful, and it also summarizes examples of how other communities are also providing outreach information to applicants for development. Public Comment Cameron said he uses the Larry Scott Trail; students get multiple rides into town via car. Not much transportation options out in the county. John Collins suggested a book club on climate change at Finnriver. Perhaps hire a student who is involved in the national lawsuit to come and speak at the PT high school Salon. He also mentioned that if the ports flood, all the maritime jobs will go (1 out of 5 in Port Townsend). Tom Engel is concerned that the issue of climate disruption is not being promoted as serious as it is. He is asking the committee to get out into the community to mobilize the public to take action. Cara suggested that the PDA be included as one of the groups in the GHG inventory. Sonja mentioned wireless charging stations for buses. John says the feasibility is not practical economically. Cameron suggested having a block of spare batteries that are fully charged to swap out for the buses. Dave Seabrook is part of the East Jefferson Fire and Rescue. He wants people to know about the Fire Wise information. Please contact EJFR for a representative to speak to groups. The information is available on the web page. Cameron suggested to find more interesting ways to get students involved. Other Updates Cindy gave an update on a recent North Development Council meeting on climate. There was interest on continuing to work across the peninsula together on the adaptation side as well as the mitigation side, and to look for grant opportunities. There was interest by members of both counties. It was agreed that both counties could work together and share information their comp plans, etc. Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next meeting – August 28, 3:30 – 5:30. Possible agenda items include:  ICLEI tools - discuss how we may want to use planning mode after inventory  Report on Inventory  Talking points for the CAC  Update on decision tool  How to roll out once inventory complete, and potential updates to Climate Action Plan Dan mentioned the broadband survey. Asked others to pass the word on taking the survey. The PUD is in a hiring phase and is looking for new employees. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.